Currently, vehicles are often provided with computer equipment in order to assist vehicle operators in performance of job duties or other tasks. Often, a fleet of vehicles operated for an organization will be equipped with similar or identical computer systems.
In order to address safety concerns, organizations may often choose to disable computer screens during vehicle movement in order to ensure safe operation of the vehicle. For example, it can be distracting and dangerous for a driver to view a display screen of a laptop computer or similar device while the driver is operating a moving vehicle.
It is known to fully or partially disable a display screen of a laptop computer or other electronic device in a vehicle while the vehicle is in motion. Examples of such safety systems are disclosed in references such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,940, 6,574,531, 6,122,682, 5,949,345, 5,541,572, 5404,443, 5,148,153, and 5,032,828. The systems disclosed in these patents offer a number of advantages but are not without problems. For example, the methods disclosed in these references for determining whether a driver is operating a vehicle are generally needlessly cumbersome, expensive, and time-consuming. The disclosed systems typically call for extra equipment and complex and time-consuming installation. The disclosed systems are also typically difficult to move from one vehicle to another and require the user of sensors that must be installed or associated with axles, wheels, speedometers, parking brakes, transmissions, drive trains, or other components of the vehicles. Thus, these systems typically require specialized installation work to be performed on a vehicle to prepare the vehicle for the system. Systems relying on these types of sensors may suffer from a number of disadvantages such as undesirable wear and tear of mechanical systems and difficulty in maintaining, upgrading, repairing, and replacing such systems.
In addition to the computer equipment mentioned above, many vehicles may now be provided with a portable or onboard navigational system. Navigational systems typically include a computer, mapping or navigational software, and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. The GPS receiver communicates with GPS satellites and provides a data stream, typically including a number of data fields, to the computer.
Mapping or navigational software converts the data from the GPS receiver to a user friendly format for display on the screen, often showing the location of the GPS receiver and vehicle on a map. Some vehicles are equipped with onboard navigational systems. Kits are also available that enable a laptop, personal computer, personal digital assistant (PDA) or similar electronic device to be used as a navigational system that is very easy to move from vehicle to vehicle. Such kits typically include a portable GPS receiver and navigational software. The GPS receiver may be operably connected to an electronic device in any number of different ways. For example, the GPS receiver may have a USB or serial plug 24, may include a compact flash card that fits in a card slot, typically with the help of a PCMCIA adapter, or may include wireless capabilities for a wireless connection. These mapping or navigational systems and kits also offer a number of advantages but are not without problems. For example, it can be distracting and dangerous for a driver to view a display screen of a mapping or navigational system while the driver is operating a moving vehicle. In fact, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,574,531 and 6,266,589 both disclose the use of systems for disabling at least some functionality of GPS systems in moving vehicles.
A solution is needed for enhancing vehicle operator safety while allowing flexibility for viewing necessary information. Vehicles assigned to achieve different tasks may require different options for viewing necessary information both while moving and while stopped. It is desirable to allow both a vehicle operator and a system administrator to have some flexibility in determining the parameters of safe and necessary information retrieval. Prior systems have failed to fully appreciate the advantages of the simultaneous achievement of the objectives of safety and flexibility.